Four-wavelength time-resolved optical mammography in the 680-980-nm range.

What is to our knowledge the first instrument for time-resolved optical mammography operating at wave-lengths longer than 900 nm has been developed. It is a scanning system that relies on the acquisition of time-resolved transmittance curves at 683, 785, 912, and 975 nm, with a total measurement time of approximately 5 min for an entire image. Breast structures and lesions can be discriminated based on the different absorption and scattering properties at the four wavelengths, which reflect different contributions of oxyhemoglobin, deoxyhemoglobin, water, and lipids, as well as distinct structures. The system is currently used in a European clinical trial.